When I was planning this month’s Freezer Cooking Day, I was trying to think of foods which would be good for warm weather. Frozen Fruit Cups kept coming to mind. I’ve had these a few times at various events, so I looked online for a recipe similar to what I remembered.
This recipe was the closest I could find. So I tweaked it some and here’s what I ended up with:
Frozen Fruit Cups
makes 48 fruit cups
2 cans (20 oz. each) diced pineapple (The recipe calls for crushed pineapple, but I used diced since that’s what I already had on hand.)
2 packages (10 oz. each) frozen strawberries, thawed (I used approximately 4 cups of chopped unsweetened frozen strawberries.)
2 cans (12 oz. each) frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
6 medium firm bananas, cubed
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into lined muffin cups and freeze until solid then pop out of muffin tins and put into airtight freezer bags. Thaw slightly before serving.
These are rather tart. The original recipe calls for sweetened strawberries and part of me wonders if that would make the flavor better. In addition, I would recommend putting them in foil-lined cups, rather than paper cups like I did. The paper isn’t very strong and a few of the cups ripped when I popped them out of the muffin tins.
I also am thinking these aren’t extremely kid-friendly. Or, at least I wouldn’t feed them to young children unless they are outside. Otherwise, I’m envisioning sticky, dripping mess everywhere.
Does anyone have a better Frozen Fruit Cup recipe to share? If so, leave a link in the comments or email me. I’d love to consider trying it next Freezer Cooking Day!
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{ 76 comments... read them below or add one }
Would it be easier to do away with the liners altogether? Just put them in the freezer without liners in the muffin tin and then once they’re frozen pop them out and put them in a ziploc. I’ve never seen these before, but maybe that would make them more kid friendly – you could just put them in a bowl and they could eat them frozen or wait until they thaw a little bit – maybe with some yogurt, ice cream or whipped cream on top (or underneath).
Unfortunately, there’s no way these things would pop out of my muffin tins without liners. But maybe that’s because I have cheap muffin tins!
@Crystal, I think if you froze them in your tins w/o cups and then just dipped the bottoms in hot water just for a second, they might pop right out.
@Joy, I was going to suggest this as well.
@Crystal, i freeze my chicken and rice soups in muffin tins without liners and they pop out when dipped in hot water.
@Crystal,
That would work really well in silicone muffin tins I bet. Or you could just puree it all together and use popsicle molds…
@Noah, I was thinking silicone would be perfect for this, if you have it
I ALWAYS have this recipe in my freezer. Some I put in plastic punch cups that I reuse. When completely frozen, I put them in hot water for a few seconds, then pop them out into a Ziplock bag for when we have company. The rest I freeze for us in glass casserole dishes. Just set it out for 30 minutes and then cut off squares into bowls for everyone.
I think it’s much better at holding together with crushed pineapple and I also use 18 oz of all OJ concentrate. Sometimes I put in mandarin oranges and more of the fruit cocktail. I also cut up strawberries when we have them, but sometimes will use the frozen sweetened ones too. Or sometimes we add other berries. I love that we can make it with all natural sugar, and while it might taste slightly better with the sweetened strawberries, we don’t find it tart at all.
Try it first and see – it may not be nearly as messy as you think. My girls (6 1/2 and 3) love this and eat it without much mess. Our little guy is almost 1 year and he has just discovered this wonderful fruit salad!
I was also thinking silicone. I have the individual cups, and I use them all the time for freezing purees, baby food, etc. They are awesome and very much worth the investment. I have two sets of 12 because with one set, I was washing them almost daily. If you got them at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon, they wouldn’t be much.
Yes! I have a better recipe! I blogged about it here:
http://aspiritedmind.com/2009/02/light-tea-treat/
My version uses sour cream, but you can use fat free sour cream or plain yogurt instead, and you can reduce or even eliminate the sugar, depending on how sweet you like things. The post shows the mixture in heart shaped molds, but you can also freeze it in muffin cups or in little paper cups (like those little bathroom sink sized dixie cups) set in a muffin tin to freeze then popped in a freezer bag. The dixie cup type is good for kids because it gives them something to hold on to.
@Catherine @ A Spirited Mind,
Those are beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing. I am thinking this would be a great way to use up homemade yogurt which I love to make but my kids don’t like to eat it plain. Your blog is beautiful, by the way!
@Stephanie Glidden, Thank you, I hope you like the way it turns out with the yogurt!
Yum! Thank you for reminding me of your recipe!
My mom used to only let us have popsicles outside while playing in the sprinkler, or while in the bathtub. I didn’t know until I was older that it wasn’t exactly normal.
Now I make my kids do the same thing!
@Nony (A Slob Comes Clean), LOL! Popsicles in the bathtub! Fantastic idea! I’m gonna do that to my kids this summer.
@Nony (A Slob Comes Clean), your comment made me laugh out loud…i might just give my kiddos a popsicle the next time they are in the bath to see what their reaction is
I give my kids popsicles in the tub too! They are always anxious to take baths because of the special treat. It is also easy clean up when they are done.
How about inserting a popsicle stick so they are pops?
I put all the ingredients in the blender and made them into more of a frozen smoothie. I figured I could give my little ones a spoon and tell them Mommy made Italian Ice. Mine came out purple because I used blackberries and blueberries (my daughter is allergic to strawberries). It worked perfectly and they actually ate it!!
Should you freeze, thaw and then refreeze the fruit?
I keep bags of frozen fruit in my freezer and when we are ready to use them, I sprinkle whatever we feel like on top of yogurt. As an FYI – don’t freeze yogurt it kills the good cultures…..
I’ve never had a problem with freezing and re-freezing. In this case, though, the berries were mostly frozen when I chopped them so they never completely thawed.
@k and b’s mom,
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t kill the culture. Freezing doesn’t kill any other bacteria (think raw meat), and I’ve frozen yogurt in ice cube trays lots of times to use for starts in future batches. It still cultures.
@k and b’s mom, Refrozen fruit is fine. The texture will be mushier but – unless it went bad while it was thawed – is perfectly safe. This is true for veggies and meat as well.
Our ped doc told us to stop freezing yogurt because it kills the live culture….
@k and b’s mom, I remember reading on the yogurt packaging itself (don’t remember which brand) that while freezing does kill some live cultures, it is a very small percentage of the whole, and plenty are left to be beneficial.
If you blended the ingredients or even cut them in tiny pieces, it would be easier for tiny mouths to eat. You cut put a stick through them and make them into popsicles, but it would take more storage room. If you used regular OJ, rather than concentrate, the tartness would decrease. Eating them outside is a great idea so you can spray the kids off with the water hose!
I freeze mine in those silicone bakeware pans. They pop out super easy and the pans are easy to clean!
maybe if you put them in plastic cups with popsicle sticks. then they could be fruit pops
I’ve never seen anything like this either, but it has potential! maybe use of those Tupperware type Popsicle molds? of inserting popsicle sticks into the semi-frozen muffin cups?
Make them into popscicles and serve outside
I LOVE THE IDEA OF BLENDING IT ALL UP !!!
Im going to make them and tell my kids its a slushy ( instead of a smoothy which is not a lie just a fruit slushy ) !!! What kids dont like slushies
This is different but I think it would work well. It uses all fresh fruit too!
http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/soupsandsalads/r/frozenfruitloaf.htm
They do it in a loaf pan and slice to serve but I think it would work fine in muffin pans.
This one is worth looking at from recipezaar…
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Frozen-Fruit-Cups-278998
I made these yesterday too and my kids ate them with breakfast. I didn’t have enough of the foil liners, so I used some little 1/2 cup gladware containers I had. I got them out when they got up and they were thawed out enough by breakfast time(about half hour later) that they were kind of like a slushy consistency. They were a big hit here!
Crystal, I make these for a local tea room. They are super delicious, but they are made using cool whip (not sure how you feel about that).
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Creamy-Frozen-Fruit-Cups
Hope that helps.
@Candi, there are several recipes on recipezaar for coolwhip substitutes that I have been meaning to try, where I could substitute healthier ingredients.
My mom always used plastic punch cups. We would sit one out when we got up in the morning and when we were ready and it was time to eat it was thawed enough to be slushy. We ate them with a spoon. They would be messy for little ones though.
I’m inspired to try the blending thing.
(Do you think it might have worked better for you if the oj was diluted a little?)
I made these today and we had them with our dinner. I used the fruit that I had on hand. I thought they were great, hubby let me finish his, 4 yr old loved it. They will also be good as smoothie additions if I can keep from eating them all.
1 can crushed pineapple
1 can pineapple chunks–drained
1 large and 1 small can mandarin oranges–drained
16 oz frozen strawberries–quartered
1 can OJ concentrate
1/2 can lemonade concentrate
I froze them in unlined muffin cups. They were a bit difficult to pop out– 5 minutes on the counter plus some prying with a butter knife. Certainly a good reason to buy silicon muffin pan.
these work great to freeze in small plastic containers and then put in the kids lunches by lunch they are partly thawed!!!
My father in law used to make pineapple popcicles for my husband as a kid and now I make them for my kids all the time–just core pineapple, cut into long strips and push in a popcicle stick length wise–then I roll them in wax paper and freeze–the kids LOVE them and they aren’t too messy at all!
I make popsicles for the children several times a week in the summer. I bought some great popsicle molds from Target and I use those. I would blend your fruit into smoothies and then pour in into the molds. I use full-body bibs that I made for my 2yo and 3yo. They either eat them at the table or outside in the grass if it’s nice out. It’s bascially making a whole-fruit popsicle without the extra high price.
My husband’s grandmother had a recipe that is almost identical to this with the exception that she added maraschino cherries and a homemade syrup. I believe the ratio of sugar to water was 1:1, for a recipe this small I would probably do two cups of each. Simply boil the sugar/water until it thickens a bit (hard to say how long, I just do it until it doesn’t run off the spoon like water.
) and then let it cool before including it in with the rest of the ingredients.
This is something we make every summer and enjoy when it’s really hot outside. I save old cottage cheese containers and fill them up, then freeze them that way. Once it’s thawed a bit, it’s easy to dish up!
I make all fruit smoothies or Popsicles and I’ve found that OJ is too tart so I use those 100% juice blends of either white grape/peach, white grape/raspberry (our favorite), or the new apple blends. They are very sweet and no sugar needed!
That looks so nice! So easy to make. My kids will definitely help me make this one and of course, will eat all of them without me. LOL.
That would be a yummy popsicle
I’ve never done it in fruit cups but I do mine in a 9 x 9 glass dish. You could maybe freeze it that way and then cut it and divide it up into little baggies for individual servings. Here’s what I do.
1 can crushed pineapple.
1 can mandarin oranges.
2 bananas
1 can OJ concentrate or some OJ
1/8 to 1/4 cup sugar
You could add strawberries as well, and I think a little bit of sugar does help with the tartness. You could double it for a 13 x 9 pan as well.
I grew up only eating homemade popsicles, we make them with OJ and little chunks of banana, and they are super yummy. We have plastic popsicle molds, so then there’s no waste. My parents used to have some expensive Tupperware ones, ours are just cheapo ones from clearance at Target.
I like the idea of making something like this in a silicone mold, I have one I got at a work Christmas party, never figured out what to make in it
The molds are small enough that they would be bite-sized.
I think I would skip the OJ. Maybe I would puree a bit of the strawberry (or peach,or mango) and use that to “hold” it all together. Concentrated OJ seems too strong to me.
This is a great idea though. Lots of possibilities! I have started my kids on green smoothies, and this is another great recipe for getting in the fruits and veggies. Love it!
Now, to keep my eyes open for silicone muffin tins on sale……
I save cups from yogurt cups to reuse for different things (mostly for painting and stacking into towers), but they would work for this too.
I would have put them in small plastic bathroom cups.
This may add some unwanted ingredients, but I have heard of people adding a box of instant vanilla pudding to recipes like this.
What about just sticking a popsicle stick in the middle?
What about ice cube trays, like you do with baby food purees? They would be small, but put two or three cubes in a dish to thaw when ready to serve.
My grandmother used to make a “fruit freeze” that had oranges or OJ, bananas, crushed pineapple and perhaps a few other ingredients. The fruit was more blended. We can’t locate the recipe. Does anyone have a recipe for this type of fruit freeze? It was frozen in a 9X9 pan.
Thanks!
I make this every summer and it’s always a huge hit!
1 can frozen OJ
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
fresh strawberries, bananas, grapes cut into bite size chunks
canned peaches and pineapple cut into bite size chunks (drained)
* Make OJ like normal
* Boil water and sugar until disolved and let cool
* mix OJ and sugar water in large bowl
* add fruit to large bowl and freeze (sometimes i freeze them in individual containers with lids or i freeze it all in one big bowl with a lid)
* you will want to shake the bowl after it has started to freeze because all of the fruit will rise to the top
My recipe uses apple juice which is sweeter then orange juice. We love using fresh fruit in the summer. I shared my recipe here.
http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2009/09/fruit-slush.html
I also found yogurt cups are perfect. The ones with plastic lids are idea. We like to take them on picnics. They help to keep our food cold until we arrive and they are perfectly thawed.
Gina
Here’s my mom’s recipe. She would always make these on Easter and we all *loved* them. As you can see, they have quite a bit of sugar, so tartness isn’t an issue.
1 can OJ, thawed
1 juice can water
2 c sugar
2t lemon juice
1 17 oz can crushed pineapple, with juice
2 17 oz cans apricots or peaches, drained (Apricots hold up better but are harder to find/less likely to be on hand.)
6 bananas, chopped
Mix all ingredients, spoon into muffin cups, freeze. Makes 36.
I think they best way to make these kid-friendly is to let them thaw a bit before serving, until they are slushy. Then serve them in a bowl with a spoon. And a bib.
@Mary, Oops, the apricots/peaches should be chopped.
I didn’t read all the comments, so perhaps someone already mentioned something like this. I save the cups from yogurt for this kind of thing. They would be the perfect size and much sturdier. It might be a little bit of a pain to freeze them initially, since a lot of yogurts don’t come with lids anymore. But it might be worth it??
I make something similar in leftover yogurt containers. I blend the fruit (you can add yogurt or coconut milk to add creaminess) then pour into the containers. I usually make them with popsicle sticks, but you could leave them in the cup then eat slightly thawed.
The popsicle version slides right out when you rinse the outside of the cup with a little warm water.
Just a comment about the bacteria dying off when you freeze yogurt: When you freeze anything, SOME of the bacteria will die off. There might still be some viable bacteria left after you defrost it, but it won’t be the same as fresh yogurt. BTW I am a microbiologist, so I hope this helps
thanks for posting this! I struggle with meals to cook during hot weather!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! We’ll definitely be trying these this summer!
I buy frozen yogurt soo i am pretty sure its ok to freeze it!
@kristin, and I do not mean frozen ice creamish yogurt.. i mean greekish frozen yogurt..
more kid-friendly: how about making them into popsicles? just blend all the fruit into a smoothie and pour into dixie cups, then add a popsicle stick and freeze. Voila! a tasty frozen treat that your kids will love
I just realized…after making my own version, those little lunch-sized fruit cups (or apple sauce cups) are the perfect size for these fruit cups (granted, no lid, but freeze, toss in bag (cup and all) good to go. So now there’s a good use for those not-recycle-able-in-most-states-#5-plastic cups! When I get enough gladware (coupons anyone?) I won’t be collecting these cups anymore, so I’d better start saving them
Oh, here’s my version: (which tastes good so far…we’re having some for dessert tonite…but I did snag a taste out of the bowl before I froze the cups)
1 can pineapple-orange concentrate
1 can pink lemonade concentrate
1 can crushed pineapple
1 can chunk pineapple (drained)
2 cans mixed fruit-salad (not tropical)
1 bag frozen strawberries
The concentrates came from W-mart, the rest from Aldi. (I had some of these at home, but those are the stores they came from)
I would just blend what you have on hand and make true popsicles. If you don’t have popsicle sticks then just freeze in a large tupperware and thaw when you need/want. I do this with my veggie/fruit smoothies http://frugalmommascooking.blogspot.com/2010/02/toddler-fruit-veggie-smoothie.html
She has a special sippy cup with straw that we use. I just pour a little of the thawed smoothie in the cup. No mess and an awesome-healthy treat!
I didn’t have time to read all the comments, but I would probably freeze them in ice cube trays and then add sticks and freeze to make small “popsicles”. I’ve used toothpicks, but for very small children I would look for something else. Maybe a plastic straw cut in 1/2? Once frozen, just pop out as you would ice cubes and put in a freezer bag. I would also think it would taste better if the orange juice concentrate was blended with some of the fruit in the blender first.
We really like these:
Frozen Banana Salad
2 C sour cream
4 maraschino cherries, rinsed & chopped
3/4 C sugar
2 T lemon juice
9 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
1/8 t salt
1/3 C chopped nuts
2 bananas, mashed
Mix together sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, & salt. Stir in nuts & fruits. Fill paper-lined muffin tins with mixture. Freeze. May remove from tins and wrap to store. Remove from freezer about 15-20 min. before you want to eat them.
Makes about 15
I wouldn’t use aluminum liners for a food with citric acid in it if I were you–the fruit will end up with a battery-acid type taste–kind of like the episode of “The Office” when the boss puts orange juice in everyone’s company complimentary aluminum water bottles…:)
Tricia @ OnceaMonthMom.com just posted a frozen fruit cup recipe that looks like it would work well- you should check it out… http://onceamonthmom.com/frozen-fruit-cups/
This is a little unrelated but something we’ve been doing for frozen fruit that is really working is buying a big huge bulk can of fruit cocktail (like from costco but I can get them in my regular grocery store)… it’s around $5 but easily is 10 or more smaller cans worth of fruit. I have a bunch of little 1/2 c sized snack containers with lids (I believe I got them at the dollar store) and I divide up the can. I freeze them and take them out a few hours before a meal and the kids have their own slushy fruit cups to eat. I also freeze larger portions in 2-cup portions to have for the whole family. It’s not popsicles but it’s WAY cheaper than individual fruit cups, travels well, and even with good coupons, I still can’t get that much canned fruit for that price. Anyway, works for us.
My favorite!!
1 6 oz. frozen lemonade
1 6 oz. frozen orange juice
1 10 oz. frozen strawberries
3 bananas sliced or diced
2 1/2 c. water (or slightly less)
1 c. sugar (or slightly less)
1 16 oz. peaches – canned or frozen
Mix juice together, then slice and add fruit. Add any fruit juices, too. Freeze in paper dixie cups. Makes approx. 20-24 4 oz. servings. Thaw 45 minutes before serving, or use defrost setting in microwave.
I clear some space in the freezer and freeze the cups on a cookie sheet until frozen solid.
You’ll love them!
As far as the mess part goes there is a recipe on allrecipe.com that has no drip popsicles. It uses sugar free jello and yogurt instead of the OJ concentrate. That recipe uses bananas only but any fruit will work! I think this would help with the tartness too since thats probably from the OJ. Here’s the link below,
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/No-Drip-Ice-Pops/Detail.aspx